Sport and Education: College athletes missing out on education

College Athletes are putting more importance on athletics then education

On February 18th, 2016 my American Sport in the 21st Century class learned about Sports and its reflection on education. As talked about in class high school athletes play sports in hopes to obtain a scholarship and their parents share the same dream as well. Obtaining money for college helps teens coming out of high school today, but some high school athletes are taking the money then playing one year in the NCAA for basketball or only three years for football as we discussed on February 25th, 2016 in class. I know if I received a full ride scholarship I would be thrilled because then I would not be in a lot of debt in the future and I could obtain an education for free. In an article wrote by Jim Tucker for the Sports Business Journal on January 11th, 2016 he shines a light on the one and done athletes of the NCAA and the football players who only play a three year college career then go straight to the NFL. He shows how college athletes are not focusing on their academics and instead focusing on athletics which is an abuse among intercollegiate sports as we also discussed on February 25th, 2016. I tend to agree with him when he states that college athletes are missing out on an

Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers PG,
played only 1 year a Duke

education. Unfortunately in the world today universities are not only looked at for their academics, but for their sports programs as well. This at the division one level is very accurate when you look at coaches salaries as we discussed in class. In todays society you either have an education or the talents to be a professional athlete. Tucker also feels as if some athletes think that sports are going to take them everywhere in life and that some athletes throw their education out of the window. Athletes need to realize that there is a world outside of sports and that they should get an education so that they can obtain a job in the future. Tucker has many more good points regarding this issue and you can read them by following this link:
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2016/01/11/Opinion/Jim-Tucker.aspx?hl=Sport%20and%20Education&sc=0

Should education be important to college athletes? Yes.
Do universities stress education as much as they should for college athletes? No.
Is there too much of a focus on athletics if you are a college athlete? Yes

What are the abuses of intercollegiate athletics? Below are abuses we discussed in class.
- Easy Majors and Academics
- Illegal Recruiting
- Exploitation of Athletes
- Pressure to win
- Pressure to make money